1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to electronics and more particularly to metalization in integrated polymer microsystems.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,550 for a method for formation of thin film transistors on plastic substrates to Paul G. Carey, Patrick M. Smith, Thomas W. Sigmon, and Randy C. Aceves, issued Oct. 6, 1998, assigned to Regents of the University of California, provides the following background information, “Recently a process was developed for crystallizing and doping amorphous silicon on a low cost, so-called low-temperature plastic substrate using a short pulsed high energy source in a selected environment, without heat propagation and build-up in the substrate so as to enable use of plastic substrates incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures higher than about 180° C. Such a process is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,850 issued Sep. 13, 1994 to J. L. Kaschmitter et al., assigned to the Assignee of the instant application. Also, recent efforts to utilize less expensive and lower temperature substrates have been carried out wherein the devices were formed using conventional temperatures on a sacrificial substrate and then transferred to another substrate, with the sacrificial substrate thereafter removed. Such approaches are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,481 issued Mar. 7, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,231 issued Mar. 21, 1995, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,276 issued May 9, 1995, each issued to A. McCarthy and assigned to the assignee of the instant application.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,429 for a chronically implantable retinal prosthesis by Doug Shire, Joseph Rizzo, and John Wyatt, of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued Nov. 27, 2001 provides the following information, “In the human eye, the ganglion cell layer of the retina becomes a monolayer at a distance of 2.5–2.75 mm from the foveola center. Since the cells are no longer stacked in this outer region, this is the preferred location for stimulation with an epiretinal electrode array. The feasibility of a visual prosthesis operating on such a principle has been demonstrated by Humayun, et al. in an experiment in which the retinas of patients with retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, or similar degenerative diseases of the eye were stimulated using bundles of insulated platinum wire.”